In Furcadia, we make a distinction between two kinds of Let's Pretend.
The most popular and common one is "Freeform"; we call it
"Persona Roleplay" because all it
requires is taking the very first step towards roleplay: choosing to
play a Persona. The other is Strict Roleplaying.

Persona Roleplay

For Persona Roleplay, we recommend the Village of Meovanni. For Persona
Roleplay without OOC interruptions, we recommend the Village of Goldwyn
(in Imaginarium). If you haven't officially
agreed to any kind of limit to your character's power or background,
then what you're doing is Persona Roleplaying.
It doesn't mean that you can't have a very coherent adventure, or that
you have no background or that what you're doing is in any way inferior
to any other form of roleplay. It simply means that the standard is (of
necessity) relaxed.

Persona Roleplay is Furcadia's default and, in non-private areas, we
uphold one main rule, called the Consent Rule. Very simply: If somebody
poses or says something that implies your cooperation, you can act like
it didn't happen.

It's not just rude, it's also pointless and ignorant to call anybody a
"twink"
or "powergamer" in Persona Roleplay.

Strict Roleplay

In Strict Roleplaying, there is a strong accent on playing in a
well-defined world ("Continuity"). That might seem like a
trivial thing but upholding a Continuity gives rise to a very different
philosophy of play.

Here are 26 important principles to help Strict Roleplayers. Although a
Persona Roleplayer might gain valuable insights by reading it, please
remember that it's unfair to expect this sort of high standard from
someone who hasn't agreed to play this way. Please note that this
document contains no specifics on character generation,
dice-rolling, theme/genre, or rules for using supernatural powers. Mastering
the Art of Strict Roleplaying

It's very unlikely that you'll find "serendipitous"
(spontaneous, instant) Strict Roleplaying because Strict RP takes alot
of absorption of source material, familiarity with conventions of play.
It is quite fragile; it's heavily disrupted by mentioning OOC things.
Because of the need for more control, Strict Roleplaying takes place in
private areas, and Furcadia's Staff has no time to monitor or regulate
it. Nor do we wish to.

The extra work involved in Strict Roleplaying pays off in that you tend
to get a more interesting experience, and it makes possible the use of
character sheets, rules, and dice, all of which are optional on
Furcadia.